Ice-making company fined $350,000 after fish killed in B.C. creek

An ice-making company in Surrey has been fined $350,000 after an ammonia solution purged from its equipment ended up in the city’s storm sewer system that flows into a creek where fish were killed.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says it received a report in April 2014 about dead fish in a creek near the Golden Ears Bridge and two enforcement officers with the department conducted an investigation.

It says water samples taken near the Arctic Glacier Canada Inc. facility and the sewer system were found to be harmful to fish.

The company has pleaded guilty in provincial court to violating the Fisheries Act.

The department says Arctic Glacier was also ordered to conduct an independent environmental audit of its facility to come up with a procedure for storage and disposal of aqueous ammonia and to train employees on how to manage it.

The company will also have to upgrade its ammonia-based refrigeration system and related exhaust systems.